Thermostat configuration duplication system

the present invention pertains to a system for thermostat configuration data being duplicated and transmitted from one device to another.

BACKGROUND

The adjustment and setting of thermostats and the programming that exists with such thermostats will determine how HVAC equipment is modulated and for what duration equipment should run. Many thermostats have complex and confusing controls and require a great deal of time to configure and program. In certain buildings with multiple units there are also multiple thermostats that require configuration and programming. If an installer must manually configure and program each thermostat over and over, accurate and efficient set-up of each thermostat may not occur. Also, individuals who receive a new thermostat may have difficulty navigating the complexities of thermostat settings. The present invention avoids such difficulties by allowing for the configuration and/or programming data of the thermostat to be quickly and accurately transferred from one device to another.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides for a system comprising a first thermostat having a processor, a transmitter, a storage area and a control button or touchpad. The processor generates and interprets configuration data for the thermostat and the storage area maintains the configuration data. A cloud storage provider may store and maintain a functionally equivalent copy of the thermostat configuration data as a virtual image. The transmitter may transmit configuration data to multiple target devices, including one or more thermostats or virtual images of the thermostats. The control button on the receiving thermostat may be activated in order to transmit configuration data to the receiving thermostat. The mobile device is capable of displaying the configuration data from the first thermostat and initiating or starting the transfer and confirming the success or failure or the transfer with diagnostic information.

In another embodiment, the control button is a touch pad provided by a display of the third thermostat in order to transmit the configuration data. In an embodiment, activating the control button of the third thermostat enables transmission of the configuration data to a third thermostat. In an embodiment, the second thermostat may be capable of transmitting the configuration data to a third thermostat. In an embodiment, the configuration data may be transmitted to a Wi-Fi router and the Wi-Fi router transmits the configuration data to the second thermostat.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the subject invention, reference may be had to embodiments shown in the attached drawings in which:

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a diagrammatic view of the present invention;

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> is a schematic diagram of the present invention;

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref> is a flow diagram of the present invention;

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 4-7</figref> are screen shots of the present invention; and

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> is a plan view of a thermostat of the present invention.

Although the invention has been depicted with respect to the drawing <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1-8</figref>, various changes in form and detail may be made and understood by those of ordinary skill in the art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The invention may be understood with respect to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 1-8</figref>. Turning to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>, the components of the system and the process of transmitting the configuration data will be described. The mobile device, such as a smartphone <b>10</b> includes a screen <b>15</b> to which the appropriate information can be displayed and input. The input may be via pad that is displayed on the touch screen display <b>15</b>, or other means, such as a mouse, stylus or connected keyboard. The smart phone <b>10</b> includes telecommunications standard transmission means such as Bluetooth, 4G transmission or Wi-Fi transmission via the internet <b>201</b>. The mobile device <b>10</b> transmits to a router <b>220</b> within a building where the targeted thermostat is located. The router communicates with a transceiver <b>215</b> located within the thermostat <b>200</b> via Wi-Fi, 900 Mhz, Bluetooth or similar wireless protocols. The thermostat includes on/off switches <b>209</b>, its own display <b>212</b>, a touchpad <b>213</b> and a microprocessor <b>214</b>. The thermostat controls an HVAC system <b>211</b> or other heating or cooling system.

The microprocessor <b>214</b> of the thermostat is programmed to transmit configuration data regarding file operation of the thermostat <b>200</b> upon user input. The transmission of the configuration data is via transceiver <b>215</b> and router <b>220</b> to the internet <b>201</b>. For example, a cloud server <b>201</b> may collect and organize all of the configuration data being transmitted from the thermostat <b>200</b>. In this embodiment, the smartphone <b>10</b> and any other device that is linked to the desired cloud service provider, obtains the configuration data from the cloud server <b>201</b>. In an alternate embodiment, the configuration data may be stored in a memory location within the thermostat or the router. A request for the data could be processed by the microprocessor <b>214</b> by sending the data directly to a requesting mobile device <b>10</b> or another thermostat (without use of a cloud server <b>201</b>).

As can be understood, following the set-up, the user can be anywhere in the world and control the thermostat via the mobile device with communications being sent through the standard telephone network to the Cloud and the Cloud server <b>201</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>), which can interact with the Wi-Fi network provided by the router <b>220</b> (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref>) at the user's residence or commercial facility.

The router <b>220</b> communicates with the thermostat <b>210</b> via transceiver <b>215</b> that includes communication protocol for wireless transmission and receiver functions, such as IEEE 802.11. The transceiver communicates with the microprocessor <b>214</b> to control the systems connected to the thermostat, such as HVAC system control relays <b>211</b> that control a furnace or boiler, etc. In an embodiment the microprocessor <b>214</b> may be programmed to include wireless mesh communication as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,410,931 and/or 8,233,471 assigned to SIPCO. The total disclosure of such publications are each incorporated by reference herein.

It is noted that the thermostat <b>210</b> may include a touch pad display screen <b>212</b>, however the operas ion and set-up of the above invention does not require the user to input any commands or instructions via the thermostat display <b>212</b>. All but one set-up step (<b>413</b>) can be accomplished via a remote input device <b>10</b> running the communication app and code input system that causes the microprocessor <b>214</b> to move to a listen mode when the set-up steps <b>400</b> to <b>420</b> are followed (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>), as discussed below.

In an alternate embodiment, a remote computer (wired or wireless) may be used to set-up or control the thermostat <b>210</b> via the internet and a browser by similar set-up screens depicted in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 4-7</figref> displayed on a web page according to well know TCP/IP systems.

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 1</figref> is a schematic view including the links outside of the thermostat <b>210</b>. The thermostat links with local router <b>220</b> and its Wi-Fi network that Sinks to the internet or first network. External devices such as cloud server <b>201</b>, personal computer of repairman or other service providers, external database, the external user's remote input device, such as a wireless tablet or phone <b>10</b> and other wired users may communicate with the local router <b>220</b>. The local router <b>220</b> can then communicate via Wi-Fi or other protocol such as a mesh network like Zigbee® on a second network with components including the thermostat <b>210</b> or other building environment control device that in turn can control HVAC equipment <b>211</b> including a furnace, heat pump, geothermal system, electric heat, air conditioning unit, humidifier, dehumidifier, air exchanger, air cleaner or air damper.

The thermostat <b>210</b> may receive input from wired or wireless sensors that can provide temperature, humidity and other environmental factors either within the budding or outside that may be used by the router to automatically issue commands to the thermostat based on the sensor input or building schedule information. The code input system of the present invention may also be operated via web-site on a computer <b>10</b> or other means and each of the components of the system may have a unique identifier, such as an IP or MAC address. The router <b>220</b> may have a local cache to store the IP addresses when each device is joined to the network. The second network may require a service set identifier (SSID) as an access parameter or a passcode.

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref> depicts a schematic diagram providing an overview of the transmission of configuration data of the present invention. Overall, the invention pro vides for the transmission of configuration information <b>300</b> from a first thermostat <b>210</b> to a second thermostat <b>310</b>. (The specific details of the steps to transmit the configuration data will be described below with respect to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>.) The first thermostat <b>210</b> is programmed in the ordinary course using an installer's previous knowledge, factory configuration, or an instruction manual to set the configuration data.

Configuration data may include mode and function settings of the thermostat, including temperature setting, time of day setting, day of week setting, programming set points, installer setting configuration, user settings, device identification, Wi-Fi router interlace data, Wi-Fi router identification data, mobile device identification data, sources of inputs for temperature, adjustments for relative humidity, discharge temperature, outdoor temperature, stages present, cooling response, lock-out, set point degrees, auxiliary stages, heat response, scheduling data, energy management settings, recover settings, uploader and downloader configuration settings and internet communication settings. Such configuration data may be programmed directly at the first thermostat <b>210</b> or remotely, such as by a mobile device <b>10</b>, smart phone or tablet computer.

Once the first thermostat is configured, it will operate the HVAC control relays <b>211</b> in order to manage the environment of the building. In an embodiment, a button in application under the control of mobile device <b>10</b> is activated in order to transmit the configuration data <b>300</b> to Wi-Fi router <b>220</b>. According to previous programming, the Wi-Fi router <b>220</b> will transmit the configuration data either to mobile device <b>10</b> or to Wi-Fi router <b>320</b>, or both. The configuration data <b>300</b> is then transmitted to the second thermostat <b>310</b>. Depending on the configuration and geographic location of the thermostats and router, router <b>220</b> and <b>320</b> may be a single device. When installed of a wider area, the connection between router <b>220</b> and <b>320</b> may be through an internet or other service provider.

In an embodiment, the second thermostat <b>310</b> may be located in an apartment or condominium adjacent the first thermostat in the same building. In such an example, there may be as many as ten to hundreds of thermostats in a single building/complex. In such an environment, the first thermostat may transmit its configuration data <b>300</b> to each of the other thermostats in the building as discussed above with respect to the second thermostat <b>310</b>. As shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 2</figref>, the first thermostat <b>210</b> is the source for the configuration data <b>300</b> and the second thermostat <b>310</b> is the target.

However, in an alternate embodiment the second thermostat <b>310</b> may become the source and a third thermostat may become the target. In such an example, the second thermostat <b>310</b> will transmit the configuration data <b>300</b> to the third thermostat (not shown). Mobile devices <b>10</b>, <b>318</b> may be used to supplement the operation as described in this system and may be used to alter the configuration data or configuration settings of any of the thermostats <b>210</b>, <b>310</b>. It is understood that once the target thermostats receive the configuration data they are then capable of controlling the environment via the HVAC control relays <b>311</b> that are connected to such target thermostat <b>310</b>.

Turning to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 3</figref>, the detailed steps of the process will be described (also while referring to <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIGS. 4-7</figref>). The process begins at step <b>400</b> and at first step <b>401</b> the application is loaded on the mobile device <b>10</b> or <b>318</b> and a cloud connection is established to communicate with the cloud based virtual thermostat images, and physical source and target devices. At the second step <b>402</b>, the application will select the source device; such as the first thermostat <b>210</b>. At the third step <b>403</b> the serial number and type is loaded to the application memory. At the fourth step <b>404</b>, the target device is selected in the application. At the fifth step <b>405</b>, the serial number and type is loaded into the target application memory; such as first thermostat <b>210</b>.

At the sixth step <b>406</b>, the target and source are confirmed as being compatible. At the seventh step <b>407</b>, a copy of the configuration programming is selected in the application. At the eighth step <b>408</b>, a copy of the type is loaded into the application. At the ninth step <b>409</b>, a message “Go To Target Thermostat” is displayed by the application. At the tenth step <b>410</b>, the application puts the target into receptive mode and transfers the copy type and source serial number to the target. For example, the target may be the second thermostat <b>310</b>.

At eleventh step <b>411</b>, the installer may choose an alternate path by pressing the configuration button at the target <b>310</b>. At the twelfth step <b>412</b>, the target thermostat <b>310</b> displays the word “Copy” as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 4</figref>. The twelfth step may also include the “Next” and “Return” buttons also being displayed. The thirteenth step <b>413</b>, has the installer pressing the “Next” button at the target to start copying. At the fourteenth step <b>414</b>, the target thermostat displays a “Wait” alphanumeric display as shown in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 5</figref>. At step fifteen <b>415</b>, the target thermostat retrieves the source configuration from the cloud, or via Wi-Fi router <b>320</b>. At the sixteenth step <b>416</b>, the target thermostat <b>310</b> loads the source configuration into the target thermostat non-volatile memory or another storage location. At the seventeenth step <b>417</b>, the target thermostat <b>310</b> displays the alphanumeric symbol for “DONE” as depicted in <figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 6</figref>. In the event that the configuration data fails to load to the target device, the display would provide a “FAIL” message (<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 7</figref>) and appropriate diagnostic codes.

At the eighteenth step <b>418</b>, the target thermostat <b>310</b> updates the copy and provides a “Complete” flag in the processor. At the nineteenth step <b>419</b>, the application displays a message that the copy has been successful as the last step <b>420</b> in this systems process. Thus, it is to be understood that a virtual copy of the configuration data may also be stored in the cloud and retrieved by the router <b>320</b> via the mobile devices <b>10</b>, <b>318</b> and transmitted to any number of target thermostats.

<figref idref="DRAWINGS">FIG. 8</figref> depicts a thermostat <b>200</b> of the present invention including a control button such as configuration touch pad <b>154</b> or hard or mechanical button <b>20</b>. The control button(s) may be used to accept the configuration data from another device as discussed above. Other features of the thermostat include Temperature icon <b>610</b>, alternative touch pads <b>620</b>, <b>652</b> for functions such as CLEAN, HUMIDITY, OUTDOOR, SYSTEM, FAN PROG, HOLD DAY/TIME and FAN icon <b>640</b>.

While various concepts have been described in detail, it would be appreciated by those skilled in the art that various modifications and alternatives to those concepts could be developed in light of the overall teachings of the disclosure. Therefore, a person skilled in the art, applying ordinary skill, will be able to practice the invention set forth in the claims without undue experimentation. It will additionally be appreciated that the particular concepts exposed herein are meant to be illustrative only and not limiting to the scope of the invention, which is to be given the full breath of the appended claims and any equivalents thereof.